The Notes with Andrew Nemr

How a single mislabeled photo sent me on a rant of eliminating rumors, gossip, guessing, and hurry from my life. All for the sake of engendering trust is a world bent towards speed. LINKS: Berry Brothers Video This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

The final turn in a multi-part exploration on Psalm 23. Here Andrew explores the wonder of relational assurance, what it stands on, and how we might start to approach it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

What if where we set our attention can transform our reality? What if the receiving of good things happens in the midst of challenges? Andrew explores the next line in Psalm 23 as he continues this series. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

“Okay,” we might say, “we get that you dig this cat. You’ve gotten some good things from Him – a life of plenty, rest, restoration, and training in the ways of righteousness. But you also got this journey through the valley of the shadow of death. Surely your good shepherd can’t be that good?” Andrew explores the valley of the shadow of death in the context of Psalm 23. This is a public episode. I...

When we are rested and restored, the question of what next becomes available for consideration. What action? For what purpose? These are the next considerations of the writer of Psalm 23 and what Andrew explores in this episode. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

Following three days at the Designing for Empathy Summit and Workshops, Andrew reflects on progression from rest to restoration. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

Andrew explores of the connection between desire and rest continuing his journey through the 23rd Psalm. Reconciled desires lead a unique experience of rest, not just the ceasing of work. This episode explores what this kind of rest looks like, and how we might get there. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.and...

Human desires are a fundamental part of life. How we think about them and relate to them will shape the kind of life we get. Here is a bit of my own journey with this idea. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

Here are three parts of some of what happens in the process of formation. There is the moment of being captured by a vision to such a degree that you simply leave what you have behind. There is the intentional reorganization of one’s life for the sake of a particular vision. There is the process of training to become a different kind of person. These aren’t everything, but they are a part of it. O...

How does knowledge function in concrete pursuits? What happens when knowledge isn't pursued? This week I explore both with some anecdotes from Tap Dance Land. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

Exploring experiences with anger in and out of Tap Dance Land. LINKS: Identity Short Film , Rising to the Tap . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

With every shift in culture there are things that get lost. New things garner more attention. It is normal. Yet, some of the things that get lost warrant remembering. For over twenty years I’ve been carrying the question of loss and remembrance as it applies to oral traditions. Considering tap dance specifically, Tap Legacy™ has been the place where I learned the challenges faced by oral tradition...

How can we think about the reality of the spiritual and the requirement of specificity? The separation of spirituality from religion seems to hinder this line of thinking. Here I explore reconnecting the two for the sake of a fuller life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

When it comes to understanding ourselves there are plenty of models to use. The one I explore here, first brought to my attention through Dallas Willard's work, is worth considering. LINKS: Dallas Willard’s book, Renovation of the Heart , a teaching of Jesus Christ found in the book of Matthew , the Spiritual Formation for Artists Course , The Easy Yoke , spiritual formation is all about you . Thi...

The central figure of your spiritual formation is you – it is really all about who you become. Or is it? This week we explore the connection between individual and relationship, and how they aren't really as separate as we might think. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

Imagine your favorite game show. The contestants are all vying for the prize – a large some of cash, a dream vacation, or a car, perhaps. They’ve all given time and effort towards this pursuit, and now their efforts in training are being put the test. Will they reach their goal? Will they get the thing they are aiming for? In end, regardless of what we thought we were aiming for, we all get a spir...

One of the most powerful practices in the journey of spiritual formation is that of the interruption. If the way that we’ve always done something has lead to a particular organization of thought of action, and we want something different, the current patterns require interrupting. This note is a quick description of my plan to rest in July. LINKS: The Notes archive . This is a public episode. If y...

In a long talk about transformation John Maxwell centers the sharing of values as the catalyst for transforming. He is not wrong, but I disagree with the premise that sharing good values is what does the transformation. In this episode of the Talking Notes I explore why values fall short. LINKS: the short , the longer talk , the renewing of the mind , love , the meeting of two worlds . This is a p...

A few months ago, a video of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker was making the rounds entitled, "How to spot an idiot." While part of a larger speech, the "idiot" clip went viral. Contempt is sneaky. LINKS: writing talks , or shows . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

How does how we think about positioning and change relate to our ideas of movement and propositions of life? LINKS: Peter Boghossian’s Street Epystemologies , a one-day retreat on spiritual formation and rest , the four great questions of life , conversation – the type that leads to deeper discovery . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to b...

What do the existence of both ecstatic dancing and formal dancing about our relationship to forms and the desire for freedom. This note explores this idea at the nexus of tap dancing, apprenticing to become a pastor, and life. LINKS: Sanctuary Ministries , Hillary McBride , Pheeroan AkLaff , Rashied Ali , DayBreaker , Henry LeTang . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with othe...

The tap dancer Bubba Gaines, in taking on Bettye Morrow as an apprentice, told her that he was happy to teach her because she hadn’t been taught wrong. Wrong teaching is everywhere, and by it comes the need for correction. Correction is described as a painful experience, but does it have to be? In this episode I wander through Psalm 23, Tap Dance Land, and my own relearning to explore... This is a...

In a world in which we have had to define posed purpose and meaning as a thing to have to experience the good life, and made meaning something we can pull out of thin air, it is as if we have forgotten that meaning is everywhere, already. Here, through my experience in Tap Dance Land, I explore this idea. LINKS: TiDii This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers o...

Special Guest – Esther Mun Andrew and Esther discuss the journey of the creative person. We meander through conversations about dream, projects, prayer, and what growth looks like in the middle of the work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit notes.andrewnemr.com/subscribe

Exploring improvisation as a mode of being – a framing of the skill of choice-making that can be trained towards. In this note I start with my experience of improvisation in Tap Dance Land, then draw a bridge to the improvised life as it relates to the journey of spiritual transformation. LINKS: a song performed by Sammy Davis, Jr. , Studio Notes . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discus...